Adults. Males to 76 mm, females to 79 mm. Back is mostly smooth and dark brown or grey, with irregular orange and yellow patches on the sides and upper arms, sometimes with a faint pale stripe down the spine. A raised cream or reddish-orange stripe runs from below the eye to top of the arm, bordered above by a wide dark stripe that starts near the tip of the snout. Belly is smooth and white or yellow. Head is short and snout is broadly rounded. Pupil is horizontal, nearly round, and iris is gold. Groin, backs of thighs and armpits with bright red patches. Fingers are unwebbed, toes are long with minimal webbing, both without pads.

Larvae. Tadpoles reach up to 75 mm in length. Body is oval in shape with a rounded snout and is dark grey or dark brown in colour, often with darker spots or mottling. Iris forms a gold ring around the pupil, but is otherwise dark with gold flecks. Tail is slightly taller than the body and is moderately arched in the middle, tapering to a rounded or narrowly rounded tip. Fins are mostly transparent, but may develop dark patches or spots in later stages and muscle is heavily blotched or spotted. Tadpoles metamorphose from February-April, about two months after hatching.¹

Eggs. 1000 or more eggs are laid in a foamy mass attached to emergent vegetation on the surface of ponds, dams, swamps, roadside ditches, and creek pools. Hatching occurs two to three days after eggs are laid.¹

Habitat. Inhabits swamps, steams, and dams in river flats, dry sclerophyll forests, and woodlands. Spends dry periods burrowed underground, surfacing to breed following rain.

Diet. Feeds on insects and other invertebrates.

Predation & Defence. Likely predators include reptiles, birds, and mammals.

The glands on the legs of this species contain the peptide (like a small protein) dynastin 3, which does not show any antimicrobial activity, but may play an anti-predator role.^3,5

Call is a very short, explosive ‘Bonk,’ similar to the plucking of a banjo string. Males call from hidden sites in bank-side vegetation, generally following rainfall events. Breeding season is typically October-March.

Click here to jump to CANE TOAD (Rhinella marina)

Least Concern (IUCN Red List 2004)

Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, tolerance of a broad range of habitats, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.⁴

Not Listed nationally (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999)

Least Concern in Queensland (Nature Conservation Act 1992)

1. Anstis, M. (2017). Tadpoles and Frogs of Australia. Second Edition. New Holland Publishers, Sydney.
2. Cogger, H.G. (2018). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. Updated 7th Edition. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
3. Crook, G.A. & Tyler, M.J. (1981). Structure and function of the tibial gland of the Australian frog Limnodynastes dumerili PETERS. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 105(2): 49-52.
4. Hero, J.-M., Meyer, E., Clarke, J., Retallick, R., Robertson, P. & Lemckert, F. (2004). Limnodynastes terraereginae. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2004: e.T41167A10408236. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T41167A10408236.en. Downloaded on 26 April 2020.
5. Raferty, M.J., Bradford, A.M., Bowie, J.H., Wallace, J.C. & Tyler, M.J. (1993). Peptides from Australian frogs. The structures of the dynastins from the Banjo Frogs Limnodynastes interioris, Limnodynastes dumerilii and Limnodynastes terraereginae. Australian Journal of Chemistry 46: 833-842. 
6. Atlas of Living Australia occurrence download at https://doi.org/10.26197/5e9a2fc401f43 accessed on Sat Apr 18 08:37:47 AEST 2020.